Tuesday, October 16, 2012U.S. Supreme Court clears the way for Ohio early votingGOP says it's ready to play by the early voting rulesby WKSU's STATEHOUSE CORRESPONDENT JO INGLESThis story is part of a special series.

It's now clear that early, in-person voting the weekend before Election Day is going to take place in Ohio after all. That’s because the nation’s highest court has rejected an appeal of lower court rulings that found the state’s new law banning such voting is unconstitutional. Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles reports.

The Obama campaign has won its lawsuit to reinstate in-person voting hours on the Saturday, Sunday, and Monday before Election Day. Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern is says the U.S. Supreme Court decision is the right one.

“This is a victory for Ohio. This is a victory for all of us who believe in the rule of law. This is a victory for those of us who believe that the franchise should be open to more of us and not some of us.”

Redfern says he’d like to see the weekend hours expanded to the next two weekends, as well as the final weekend before the Nov. 6 election. But he knows that’s unlikely to happen.

Secretary of State Jon Husted says Ohioans in all 88 counties will be able to vote on the Saturday before the Election from 8 to 2, on that Sunday from 1 to 5 and again on the Monday before Election Day from 8 to 2.

Matt Borges with the Ohio Republican Party says he believes Husted was right to ask the high court to overturn in-person voting on that weekend, but his party is now focused on getting the vote out.

“From our standpoint, it really doesn’t matter. You tell us what the rules are, we play by them. And now that we know, we’ll make sure to get our people turned out to vote.”

For his part, Husted says he’s set early voting hours that are uniform and give all Ohio voters the same opportunities, regardless of the county where they live.